Why transactional emails can end up in spam folders
Transactional emails are automated emails sent to your website's visitors and your customers when they complete an action on your ShopWired website, or you complete an action through your ShopWired account. Examples include the Order confirmation email sent when a customer completes an order, order status emails, password reset emails, and abandoned basket emails.
Why transactional emails can end up in spam
Whilst transactional emails by their nature and definition are not spam, aggressive spam filters can still classify them as such.
Mailbox providers use filtering systems that evaluate message content, sender reputation, and recipient interaction signals.
For ShopWired users the most common causes of emails ending up in customer's spam boxes are:
- Content that resembles marketing or spam
- Promotional language or upsell content overpowering the transactional purpose
- Misleading or vague subject lines that do not match the email body
- URL shorteners or unrecognisable tracking links
- Formatting and build issues
- Missing plain text part or image-heavy templates with little readable text
- Broken links, typos, or inconsistent branding that erode trust
- Low recipient engagement
- Customers routinely ignore or delete the messages
- Some recipients mark the message as spam
- Reputation signals at mailbox providers
- Historic complaints or bounces against a domain reduce inbox placement probability
Content best practices
Content best practices
To reduce the frequency that your website's transactional emails end up in customer spam boxes you can focus on the subject line and body content of each transactional email to ensure that it is optimised for delivery.
- Use clear, accurate subject lines
- State the event and key reference, for example “Your order has been confirmed”
- Avoid hype or ambiguity, for example “Important account alert” if the email is a receipt
- Keep the content purely transactional
- Prioritise order details, totals, next steps, and tracking information
- If you include any marketing, keep it secondary and minimal so it does not change the email’s primary purpose
- Avoid spam-like language and formatting
- Do not use all caps, excessive punctuation, or phrases such as “Act now” or “FREE”
- Avoid link shorteners; link to your website or a recognised carrier tracking page using HTTPS
- Make emails useful and professional
- Include order reference, items, delivery method, tracking URL, and how to view the order on your website
- Proofread for accuracy and grammar; fix broken links and placeholders before sending
Sender identity and headers
Sender identity and headers
ShopWired automatically applies the correct technical headers and authentication to transactional emails. To ensure deliverability of your emails ensure that you have completed email verification for your domain so emails appear from your address and brand.
ShopWired sends transactional emails via Mandrill on a fixed dedicated IP address for consistency and reputation building. Mandrill's infrastructure also applies industry-standard authentication, TLS encryption in transit and correct headers.
Mailbox providers use domain and IP reputation, along with recipient behaviour, to determine inbox placement. Whilst ShopWired uses a dedicated IP and correct authentication, content and recipient interaction still influence deliverability for your domain.
Engagement signals
Engagement signals
Mailbox providers heavily weight how recipients interact with your messages in determining whether to place future emails into spam boxes. To ensure that your domain name builds trust with mailbox providers, these best practices are recommended:
- Make emails timely
- Send confirmations and status updates immediately after the triggering action (ShopWired automatically completes this for you)
- Encourage safe, natural interaction
- Include prominent, expected actions such as “Track your order” or “View invoice”
- Where appropriate, allow replies for questions
- Avoid notification fatigue
- Do not send multiple near-duplicate updates for the same order event
- Consolidate updates when possible, for example one shipment email for multiple items dispatched together
What to do if emails still go to spam
What to do if emails still go to spam
Work through these actions to reduce the chance of future messages being filtered
- Review subject lines for clarity and accuracy
- Include the order reference or event name and avoid promotional language
- Remove or minimise any marketing content in transactional templates
- Keep the primary purpose strictly transactional
- Replace shortened or opaque URLs with clear HTTPS links to your website or carrier tracking pages
- Ensure domain email verification is complete so emails appear from your brand
- Navigate to Website settings > Domain name and review the DNS email verification section
- Add a plain text version to each template alongside HTML if your template editor allows it
- Reduce redundant notifications
- Consolidate multiple updates for the same order event where possible
- Ask affected customers to mark your email as “Not spam” and add your address to contacts in their mailbox
- Review third-party references in your templates
- Replace any blacklisted or unrecognised link domains with your own tracked URLs
